WHEN NANNY KNOWS BEST!

The kids and I watched Nanny 911 last Sunday and it was an interesting example of how sometimes,Nanny really knows best.

The episode was about the Finks (Geesh what a name!) who had 3 sets of twins for kids! The first set, Amanda and Alex were both adopted.The next two sets were apparently theirs. The couple's problem was that the kids were always whining, crying and showing aggressive behavior--- as in hitting their siblings if they didn't get they want.

The couple called on Nanny 911 for help,and the Nanny who came to the rescue assessed what was going on then came up with a set of rules. The parents,upon hearing what the Nanny was prescribing as solutions and seeing the written rules were skeptical about calling in the Nanny. There was even a shot of the wife saying,in a rather sarcastic manner, that it won't work.

But was she proven wrong!

When one of the kids started whining about something,the Nanny coaxed her to use words and say what she wanted. The kid stopped crying and said what she wanted! The parents were flabbergasted.

When another kid started throwing a tantrum because he couldn't get what he wanted, Nanny picked him up and gave him a choice...say what you want or get locked up. The kid said his piece and the crying stopped.

Apparently, what had been happening was that the husband had been leaving the care of the kids to the wife,who,unable to cope with the kids dysfunctional behaviors didn't do anything to correct them and started harboring ill feelings toward the husband. In the process they started not communicating. Pretty soon everyone in the household was not communicating with each other. The only way they knew to get attention was to whine, cry or get aggressive.

The episode ended with the nanny finally saying goodbye after she saw that the Finks had alreazdy learned how to communicate with each other. Mrs. Fink confessed thsat the house was now so quiet and peaceful,she could even hear herself think!

A BARBECUE IN THE DESERT!!!

I caught a feature on Animal Planet about the life of sand grains in the Namib Desert. It tracked the years-long journey of the desert sands travelling from the desert of South Africa to their end in the ocean.

The documentary showed some of the hidden dramas taking place in the desert and one of these was the way the spore spiders trapped and killed their favorite prey...the Namib ants.

The spore spider digs a hole in the sand and at the entrance of its lair it mixes its web with sand to camouflage the trap. The spider then hides in its tunnel which is also cooler than on the surface and lies in wait for its victim.

When an ant gets caught in the web it struggles to get free but in doing so, it sends vibrations throught the sand particles which the spider detects. But here's the interesting part!

The spore spider just traps the ant in its jaws then lets it roast under the sun until it cooks to its death...ready for the spider to eat!

A desert barbecue!

BOOKS...BOOKS...EVERYWHERE! BUT DOES ANYBODY READ THEM?

One of the routine things we do when we go malling on Sundays is drop by a bookstore. Usually this is Powerbooks at Alabang Town Center,Fully Booked at Rockwell or any of the National Bookstores in any mall.

I've often wondered if anybody really reads these books and why there are so many authors writing on the same subject. What with all the stuff you can get for free over the internet...and in a more exciting format at that!

Many of these books, after staying on shelves for so many years usually go on sale sometimes at 70%-80% of their original price during book sales. Maybe an indicator that they're not really that saleable!

Recently, though I had an experience which made me realize why having books around are important.

I'm supposed to put together a "book" on "Inspirational Leadership" for Chowking. It should be written in a simple style that would make it easy reading even for our cooks. It should also be interesting, informative and yet not comre across as intellectual.

In my search for a "model" for this type of book, I came across Andrew Matthews' "Being Happy." I had used this book before as a reference for a Crew Leader develpment program I had packaged for Jollibee over 20 years ago.

While browsing through the book to check out its style, I couldn't help but read the passages I had used to teach our Crew Leaders before on how to change their mindsets in order to change their lives. And while doing so, I stopped to reflect on my own life and see whether I had put these principles to good use myself.

It was good to be reminded again!

And maybe that's what books are for...at first they serve as sources of information...later on they serve as reminders...and we can use a reminder time and again!

DA VINCI PREDICTS THE DA VINCI CODE

Here's a cartoon I made about the Da Vinci Code. For all we know Leonardo must've "predicted" it all along! :-)

TAI CHI LESSON: SLOW DOWN TO ENJOY LIFE

It just struck me that because of my seminary upbringing (i.e.,"Never waste time") and regimented programming, I tend to do things quickly and in the process not enjoy or savor the moment.

Maybe that's what my attempts at learning tai-chi has taught me recently.

There are really a lot of enjoyable things happening around me but whether I will take pleasure from these or not will really depend on me. Perhaps if I slow down a bit and appreciate things in slow motion,like the movements of tai chi,then maybe I can enjoy life more!